January 31, 2014

Liam Neeson To Lead Martin Scorsese's Japan-Set Drama SILENCE

Lawsuits and production delays are finally over for Martin Scorsese, as the shooting for his next film Silence is moving closer to reality. The long delayed production was expected to happen years ago, but was thrown into a legal battle. All of that has cleared up, as Deadline reports that Liam Neeson will take the lead role in the film. Neeson previously took a role in Martin's Gangs of New York, which was also a priest. Daniel Day-Lewis was originally cast in this role but would eventually exit over delays. You might remember that Neeson was original set for the lead role in Lincoln, but was later recast with Daniel after it's own delays. It's a great career choice on the part of Neeson, who has been taking on more action focused roles. Seeing him take on a more serious role like this, might lead to him becoming a major Oscar contender again.

The film centres around a group of 17th century Jesuits who to try bring Christianity to isolated Japan. These events eventually become violent as The Shogun (ruling class in Japan) outlaw Christianity, as they see it a threat to their divine rule of the country. Other cast members include Andrew Garfield (Social Network, Red Riding, Never Let Me Go) and go-to Japanese actor Ken Watanabe (Inception, Last Samurai, Unforgiven). Oddly, enough there is zero mention of Adam Driver (Girls), who apparently landed a supporting role in the film recently. I'm dying to see this finally get made, I expect we'll be hearing more high-level western and Japanese talent added to the cast.SOURCE: DEADLINE